Higher education institutions reopen, exams proceed

After a hiatus lasting more than two months, institutions of higher learning in Zimbabwe returned to conventional learning on Monday 15 March. In a memorandum last week, Professor Fanuel Tagwira, the permanent secretary of the Zimbabwe Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, directed all teachers’ colleges to reopen for the first term on 15 March and close on 4 June.

The second term is expected to begin on 28 June and continue until 10 September, while the third term will start on 4 October and end on 17 December.

“For polytechnics and industrial training colleges, the first term of schooling will begin on 1 June 2021 and continue to 8 July 2021. The second term will commence on 16 August 2021 to 8 October 2021 and the third term will be from 18 October 2021 to 17 December 2021,” said Tagwira in a memo seen by University World News.

No learners to repeat

The 2021 higher education council examinations for colleges start on 15 March and end on 31 May.

Universities and colleges were scheduled to open for the first semester and term in early January, but contact classes were suspended indefinitely when a total national lockdown was imposed to contain rising coronavirus infections.

The lockdown measures were relaxed on 1 March, allowing learning institutions to resume studies, but under stringent health guidelines.

In a roadmap towards the reopening of tertiary education institutions for 2021, the ministry of higher and tertiary education, science and technology development explained that students who were supposed to start their teaching practice or industrial attachment in May 2020 will now start in March 2021, in line with the new academic calendar.

It further explained that no learners will repeat their studies.

While universities have their own dates of reopening, some, like the Midlands State University, also started their 2021 academic year on 15 March with examinations set between April and May.

Bindura University of Science Education commenced its first semester on 8 March and will close on 9 July. The university said that, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all lectures should be held online although phased on-campus lectures would be allowed between April and June for all first- and second-year undergraduates and all final-year students.

The University of Zimbabwe has scheduled its first semester to run from 12 April to 23 July and the second semester from 23 August to 3 December.

The Great Zimbabwe University will start its academic year on 10 May and run until 30 July, and the second semester will kick off on 27 September, ending on 17 December 2021.

Concerns over quality

Tagwira said the higher education sector was prepared for the reopening.

“Colleges are going to have face-to-face learning, polytechnics are beginning with exams on 15 March and, after that, they start face-to-face classes.

“Then, universities are following a blended model of learning,” he told University World News.

“There is still online learning but there will be periods when students come for face-to-face lectures, particularly science students, who have to do practical learning and first-year students who have to experience the atmosphere of a university and see their staff.”

Tapiwanashe Chiriga, the Zimbabwe National Students Union secretary general, said students were worried about the quality of education during COVID-19.

“We are worried that institutions want to pretend all has been well. Many are about to write exams without learning anything. We want to proceed, but issues of the quality of education and the accessibility and affordability of that education to the ordinary student are a primary concern,” he told University World News.

The president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union, Pijiwest Nhamburo, said that, while students supported reopening, there were no adequate mechanisms to ensure their safety.

“The role of the ministry is to give direction, but it lacks the resources to monitor and ensure the health of students is well protected,” said Nhamburo.

“Students were learning online but many could not access or afford it. Students must be given time to have physical lectures before writing exams as well as enough time to prepare for exams, and that has not been done,” he said.